Sold To The Alpha
Blood L**t Chapter 46

Her eyes were dark and cold as the slim form of Iris crept around the edge of the wall. As she snaked past one of the tall suits of armour that decorated the area, Iris pulled the sword from the empty metal hands and strode determinedly toward the three men. Her eyes automatically scouring Iris' chest, Halle's breath hitched as she noticed the amulet was missing. Look out!' she screamed desperately, replaceing her voice just as Iris swung the blade, Leo throwing himself at his Alpha instinctively, pushing him out of the way of the determined female as she sliced through the Vampire King's neck, his head severing cleanly from his shoulders, flying through the air before landing with a deafening thud on the stone floor. Glaring triumphantly for a moment at the crumpled lifeless body of the Vampire, Iris, raised her eyes to Hale's for a split second before spinning on her heel and rushing out of the front door.

Leo scrambled to his feet and gave chase after the fleeing server, as Halle raced over to her father's side, pulling him to her as she tried to check him for wounds.

'I'm OK angel' Justin said as he hugged his daughter tightly to him for a moment before quickly jumping to his own feet and following Leo outside, Halle close behind him.

Coming to a stop at the gates, the pair stood silently next to the Beta who was staring open mouthed at the lifeless body just outside of the boundary.

'She just ran straight through the gate' Leo muttered, 'didn't even hesitate, she got four steps away before she just fell down dead, her body just crumpled like an invisible entity cut her life force!

A piercing scream of agony drew them from Iris's body, the three turned around, rushing back through the castle entrance, to replace Vallance on his knees beside his fathers body, cradling him desperately to his chest as he howled in grief.

'Who would do this?' he demanded, his voice breaking with emotion, his eyes bloodshot from the tears cascading down his face, 'who would kill my father like this?'

Jason was knelt behind his grieving mate, his own face pain filled as he held him in a tight embrace as the Vampire prince sobbed.

The Vampire servers shuffled slowly in to the foyer, their heads bowed in mourning over their fallen King as they each lined up by his body in respect.

A few moments passed before one Vampiress finally spoke softly, causing Vallance's eyes to snap up to her face, 'Your majesty' she said quietly, we must prepare the ritual, the King's body must be burned and your ceremony take place' she said in a pained voice. 'No, I'm not ready, you can't take him' Vallance gasped, clinging tighter to the headless corpse.

Justin stepped closer to the men on the floor, meeting the Vampiress' gaze, 'can you not give him time? He needs to come to terms with what has happened, he needs to grieve' he said tightly.

The Vampiress shook her head, 'we cannot be without a leader, Alpha. His Majesty is now our King and must take his place through the ceremony. He must compete the blood ceremony to his match immediately as he cannot take his position until he has done so. The castle is currently without a leading entity, it must have a master, we as a species are weak and vulnerable until our King takes his crown from his father' she explained sadly.

Justin nodded, 'please, sort out the blood ceremony for Vallance and Jason immediately, what must we do with Viktor's body?'

The Vampiress bowed her head, 'The King's body must be burned on a bonfire within the grounds, we have our rituals to make sure that his essence returns to the valley of blood lust' she replied.

Leo stepped forward, 'what about Halle Alpha? We need Jason to announce allegiance to the castle to release her before he can marry Vallance' he murmured in the leader's ear.

Straightening up, Justin turned to the warriors who had collected silently into the hallway, 'I need you all outside, collect as much fire wood as you can and create a clearing to build a bonfire' he said loudly as each warrior bowed respectfully and replied 'yes Alpha' before making their way quickly through the front door.

Turning to the two men still crouched by Viktor's body, Justin walked over and placed a hand on Jason's shoulder, drawing the pained werewolf's gaze to his. 'You need to take Vallance from here son, we need to move the body and prepare him for his funeral' Justin said softly.

Jason nodded before standing up and pulling the Vampire gently from his father s body.

Looking up at his match, Vallance's face was a carving of pain, 'no, I can't leave him' he stuttered brokenly as he tried to hold his father's body to him. Leaning down, Jason took the Vampire's hand in his, holding his gaze, 'come mate, your father would want you to be brave and do what you need to do for your people. I am here Vallance, I am with you, come with me' he whispered, pulling the prince upright and into his arms.

Carefully, Jason, lifted Vallance into his arms bridal style, carrying the blood soaked Vampire toward the stairs and up to their room.

Once out of sight, Justin signalled to Leo and Daniel to deal with the Vampire King's body, Carter appearing with a linen sheet that they lay quickly on the floor before delicately lifting the body and head, placing it on top and wrapping the remaining fabric over the corpse like a shroud.

Lifting the body between them, they carried Viktor's covered remains from the foyer into a side room as Justin looked over at Carter who's face was pained.

'Are you OK Carter?' Justin asked as the werewolf shook his head, 'Iris did this, how? She had the amulet on, why did she do this?' he muttered, his eyes wide in disbelief.

Halle, who had been silent the whole time finally spoke, 'she didn't have the Amulet on, it was Ashley in control' she muttered angrily.

'Why would she take it off?' Carter asked horrified

Justin nodded, 'please, sort out the blood ceremony for Vallance and Jason immediately, what must we do with Viktor's body?'

Halle shrugged, 'I doubt we'll ever know, considering she's laying outside the boundary dead.

Carter's knees started to give as a sob escaped him, Vaya running forward to catch him as his legs started to give way beneath him. Looking up into his daughter's eyes, Carter shook slightly, 'I should have known, I should have seen what was happening' he muttered, 'it's my fault'

Vaya shook her head angrily, 'no it wasn't, this was just a seriously messed up set of events, it was no-one's fault! Viktor didn't know when he killed the murderers of his wife that he would create Ashley, Iris didn't know that Ashley was after revenge and you didn't know that Iris would take off the Amulet, releasing her other personality from its affect!' she said vehemently. Looking up at Justin, Vaya silently asked for permission to take her father from the foyer, Justin nodding wordlessly as she quickly supported the desolate werewolf back toward the kitchen.

Turning to the last few servers that were still stood in the foyer, he gave them a sad look, 'my apologies for this, but I must ask that you clean the blood from the floor, I don't think your new King will be able to function with the blood of his father staining his home' he said sadly.

One of the Vampire's immediately stepped forward, 'it will be our honour Alpha, it will be done!

As Leo and Daniel returned to Justin's side, he sighed heavily as he started toward the door, 'where are you going?' Leo asked in concern. Without looking back, Justin replied

'to move Iris's body, Vallance has to formally accept Jason at the gates, I think he would prefer to do that without the sight of his father's killer laying feet from him.'

The Vampiress who had first spoken to them looked up quickly, 'Alpha! You cannot step over the boundary, our King is no longer here to accept you back, and the Prince is not really in the best frame of mind to come down and allow you entry. once you leave, your invitation as guest is revoked' she said earnestly.

Justin looked at her pained, 'so how do we move Iris' body?' he asked fretfully.

The Vampiress eyes flickered red for a moment before she nodded to herself, 'I will call his majesty's subjects, they can enter and leave at will, they will want to be here for the burning anyway. They can remove the server's body from outside of the grounds' she said before hurrying off toward Viktor's office.

Leo sighed, 'so we cannot leave the castle grounds for the time being' he said heavily.

Justin grimaced, 'it seems so! Well lets get back inside and shower, you are covered in blood as am I, we need to get presentable and then I must check on my son and his mate.' he said firmly.

Nodding in approval, Leo followed the Alpha back into the castle, making their way back up to their rooms, Halle having already returned to her bedroom ahead of them.